Brona M. Moloney, MBChB, MD

2025 Ben J. Lipps Research Fellowship Award

Institution: Brigham and Women's Hospital

Project Title: Novel Volume Assessment Techniques for Predictive Cardiorenal Outcomes in High-Risk Cardiovascular Chronic Kidney Disease Patients in an Ambulatory Setting

How would you sum up your overall research focus in one sentence?

Our overall goal is to explore innovative and practical methods of assessing volume status among patients with cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) disease, with the aim of optimizing the initiation and maintenance of guideline directed medical therapy and providing valuable insights into the future risk of adverse cardio-kidney outcomes and events.

Provide a brief overview of the research you will conduct with help from the grant.

Our research aims to compare different ways of measuring the amount of fluid in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and heart failure (HF) who attend the kidney clinic. We will compare two contemporary methods of fluid assessment with the traditional approach of a physical exam. One is bioimpedance, which uses special sensors located in a portable scale; the second involves a portable ultrasound measurement of a large blood vessel in the abdomen. We will also explore how each method relates to things you may experience, e.g., worsening symptoms, the need to be hospitalized, and the need for medication changes to treat too much fluid. By doing this, we hope to explore which method is the best for detecting abnormal fluid status, and which is more prognostic for future adverse events. This could help doctors intervene sooner with treatments to remove extra fluid and control blood pressure. This, in turn, might reduce the need for hospitalization and unplanned medical visits.

What inspired you to focus your research in this area?

I was inspired to pursue research in this area because of its potential to generate meaningful insights and benefits for a wide range of stakeholders, including patients, healthcare providers, and healthcare systems alike. The global burden of chronic kidney disease worldwide is increasing, placing significant strain on healthcare resources. There is a critical need to develop reliable, objective methods for assessing volume status that can be easily implemented in ambulatory settings. Such tools would help identify patients at higher risk of adverse cardio-kidney outcomes and support a more targeted, personalized approach to their care. Through this strategy, we hope to reduce hospitalizations, emergency/urgent care visits, improve quality of life, and ultimately, reduce the risk of mortality.

What impact do you hope your research will have on patients?

I hope this research will lead to meaningful improvements in the lives of patients with chronic kidney disease by supporting earlier, personalized interventions that reduce their risk of serious cardio-kidney complications.

What are your career goals at the end of the grant period? Five years out? Ten years out?

I hope that my commitment to successfully executing this grant will demonstrate my dedication to a career as a physician investigator and position me to secure future career development funding. Over the next five years, I aim to continue learning and growing to achieve my goal of becoming a successful, independent researcher. Ten years from now, I hope to have established myself in this role, contributing meaningful research that improves outcomes for patients with cardio-kidney-metabolic disease, while mentoring the next generation of clinician-scientists.

Something you may not know about me is…

I dip chocolate into tea.

In my free time I like to…

Listen to podcasts, sing in choir, walk along the Charles River Esplanade, host dinner parties.